Saturday, November 12, 2005
It's not all raw fish, part IIYou'll probably recall the story back in May about a sushi shop in Kunming, capital city of Yunnan province in China, that was shut down by the government for "spreading commercial activity with poor culture." The restaurant was serving sushi and other Japanese food arranged on the unclothed bodies of two female university students as they lay on their backs. They called it "feast on a beauty's body." We laughed then, not because there was such a restaurant in the first place, but because it was forced to close. After all, the owner said that the practice was based on ancient Japanese tradition, like the delicate wax-on wax-off technique taught by the highly regarded Mr. Miyagi.
But now we discover that a restaurant offering very similar service has come to Chicago, a place of little tradition and probably no culture at all, so the authorities will not be able to accuse it of "poor culture." Besides, there must be a First Amendment somewhere around here that protects our freedom of expression, even when it involves expressing ourselves by eating raw fish served on top of naked women. The upscale sushi shop, called Kizoku, is on Ontario Street and has been operating pretty low key for a year, but turned up the fanfare recently when they introduced "body sushi."
The meal is presented in a side private lounge at the restaurant and costs $500-700 (it was only 1000 yuan or $120 in China). You are seated among a party of four to six customers around a woman lying in the center of a dinner table wearing only strategically placed clamshells. Dishes are served in a all-you-can-eat buffet style (not all you want to eat), wrapped in bamboo leaves so they don't contact her skin. One model, named Tabitha (why are they all named like that?) recognizes that body sushi is "risque and edgy," but feels that it is just performance art. "I'm all about the theatrical," she says.
You definitely want to hurry and make your reservations. There is already a two-week waiting list. And I'm not making this up: The restaurant manager is considering adding male "servers" soon. Whatever you do, don't touch the geoduck.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:30 AM
Comments:
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Ewww, male servers. Hard to imagine anyone who'd want sushi served that way, and even harder to imagine anyone who'd want that job.
# posted by 
: 13 November, 2005 11:54
: 13 November, 2005 11:54
You know, The Mrs. would so not go for that. Actually, I would wonder how often the table showered. Especially in Chicago. Ewww.
Karen and mk,
Sorry for the lack of warning. I saw geoducks displayed at a Japanese supermarket in Seattle. Super gross looking.
Hank,
Weird but tasty. A feast for the eyes.
Cowboy,
Haven't been there. But I am sure everybody lived happily ever after.
Connecticut,
Hard to believe yes, but they do have a two-week waiting list.
John,
The food comes with a Good Housekeeping guarantee of freshness.
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Sorry for the lack of warning. I saw geoducks displayed at a Japanese supermarket in Seattle. Super gross looking.
Hank,
Weird but tasty. A feast for the eyes.
Cowboy,
Haven't been there. But I am sure everybody lived happily ever after.
Connecticut,
Hard to believe yes, but they do have a two-week waiting list.
John,
The food comes with a Good Housekeeping guarantee of freshness.
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